The Ugly Ducking of House Black
by theloneisland
Summary: It takes a real special person to be blasted off the Black family tree the day they were born. Not that Clementine Black liked to mention that little fact as who brags about being related to half the the inmates in Azkaban? Clem didn't. Just because Clementine had the Black name, it doesn't mean she was a Black by nature. But who cares about that when your related to Sirius Black?
1. Chapter 1

_My sweetest Clementine,_

 _It breaks my heart that I cannot properly send you off to school like I previously have, but due to the continued spotlight on our family it is best that we aren't seen together. I fear my appearance at the platform would only draw even more attention to you than the Daily Prophet already has. I've said this before and I will say it again, the road ahead will be harder than you could possible imagine and even though you will safely be away at school, even you will not be able to free from all the attention that has come with your uncle's escape from prison._

 _There are still many questions to be answered_ _surrounding_ _your uncle's_ _escape_ _from prison and many of your classmates will look to you as a source of gossip and fascination. From my own experience of being the victim of school yard gossip, I can tell you that there will be those who will whisper both in front and behind you. Many will point out the similarities between yourself and Sirius, the famous dark features that you know run within the Black family line. Some will hold you accountable for your uncle's actions and say you shouldn't be at school. That you are just as dangerous at the mad man that is Sirius Black. But you must hold your head up high Clementine and ignore those who seek to drag you down._

 _No matter what any one says, you know the truth._

 _You know of the family that you came from. The House of Black is tainted with those obsessed with blood purity and the dark arts. Clementine, you may carry the Black name but you do not carry the same darkness within your heart. I did not raise you to be like the rest of our family, I raised you to be better than that. I raised you to be better than them all._

 _Stay safe._

 _Remember our words._

 _All my love_

 _M._

Clementine couldn't help but once again at the letter from her mother that was in her hands, the words of Cassiopeia Black were straight to the point as they warned of the dark times that inevitably lay ahead for her daughter. Yet Clementine couldn't help but smile as her fingers gently tracing over the words written on the parchment, like always her mother had written in her favourite turquoise ink. It was a small measure of comfort even though Clementine knew that nothing, not even her mother's words could prepare her for what was going to come next; the next chapter of the nightmare that Clementine had been living for the last month ever since her uncle, the murderer known as Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban.

It was supposed to have been impossible, Azkaban was meant to be inescapable and yet the seemingly impossible had happened. Clementine's maternal uncle had somehow managed to escape the prison that he had been locked away in twelve years ago after killing twelve muggles and one wizard. Clementine didn't know the finer details of what had happened and why her uncle had committed the crimes he did nor did she really know anything about Sirius. He had been arrested in the early hours of November 1st 1981, the day after Clementine's fourth birthday and she had no real memories of ever meeting Sirius.

She didn't like bothering her mother with questions about Sirius as Cassiopeia never liked to talk about her family in the slightest, as the Black family weren't exactly the warm and fuzzy type.

On the rare occasions that Cassiopeia Black mentioned her brother, she would laugh and say that Sirius had always been mad in more ways than one. Clementine couldn't help but wonder if maybe that was true as what other word could you use to describe the man who had managed to escape from prison that was supposed to be inescapable?

 _Remember our words._

No matter how many times Clementine had read her mother's letter since she had boarded the Hogwarts Express, she had always ended up back at those significant three words that her mother had wrote. _Remember our words._ To someone on the outside, they would be mistaken to believe that could Cassiopeia was referring to the motto that belonged to the so-called _Ancient and Most Noble House of Black._ Although Clementine wasn't sure the Black family could really call themselves noble given how the Black family was mostly made up of criminals and blood purity supremacists, the family tree was pretty much rotten to the core. It made the family motto of always pure 'Torjours Pur' all the more funnier.

All jokes aside Clementine knew that her mother wasn't referring to the Black family motto but rather the motto that she had adopted as her own. Noli pati a scelestis opprimi _._ It translated to _'Don't let the bastards grind you down'._ These were the words that Cassiopeia Black had taken up as her own after being disowned at the tender age of 18 for becoming pregnant with child that had a muggle born father. Clementine always found her mother's motto to be rather ironic in it's own way, considering that she was indeed a bastard. Her parents Cassiopeia Black and Topher Jennings were never married.

Her mother's reference to her own words was meant to remind Clementine to keep her head up as she knew that her upcoming school year was going to be hard. The news of Sirius' escape had reached every corner of the country for both muggles and the wizarding community. That had been expected of course along with all the media attention, given that Sirius was the first person to ever escape from Azkaban. The Daily Prophet had printed numerous stories about Sirius' escape including a full profile on him which named his closest immediate family left as his sister Cassiopeia Black and her daughter Clementine.

That had been the end of the little anonymity that Clementine had been living under, she had always known that she was related to Sirius but now the rest of wizarding Britain knew it. No one had ever made the link between the two of them until the Daily Prophet named her as the relative of a recently escaped mass murder.

For the last three weeks Clementine had been kept out of sight, sent away to stay with her father to avoid all the scrutiny that had come with Sirius escape but no longer could she hide. Even now Clementine was by herself, hiding out in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express as she wasn't ready to face her friends, if she had any left. She supposed now was probably a good time to get on with it and find out if any of her friends were still going to speak to her.

Starting with Fred and George Weasley would probably be the best place to start. If there was any two people who were crazy enough to still want to be her friends then it would be the Weasley Twins .

Folding her mother's letter in half a couple of times, Clementine stuffed the parchment into the pocket of her jeans as she stood up from her seat and ventured out of her compartment. If this was any other year, Clementine would have been sitting in a rather packed compartment with Fred, George and her other friends, swapping stories about their summer holidays. But this summer hadn't been like the usual ones, nor had the back to school, routine. Not in the several years of attending Hogwarts had Clementine dreaded going back to the institute in charge of her magical education. Things weren't supposed to be this way, Clementine was supposed to be excited about going back to school and being with her friends. Yet this was Clementine's new reality and she had to deal with it.

The stares that Clementine was receiving as she made her way through the train carriages were to be expected, she was now somewhat famous by a somewhat familial connection. Clementine could feel countless eyes threatening to burn a hole into her forehead but she continued to walk on, quickly skimming through the glass windows of the compartments for the two lanky redhead twins that she was looking for. Yet so far, there was no luck. The more Clementine walked, the longer and more arduous her task seemed to be.

The something off happened.

From the corner of her eye, Clementine noticed something off coming from above her and she looked up to see that the train lights were beginning to flutter and it seemed like the train was starting to slow down before it suddenly jolted, sending Clementine off her feet. Clambering back up Clementine couldn't help but think that something was wrong and it seemed that others shared that same sentiment as she became aware of people sticking their heads out of train compartments wondering what on earth was going on.

"Clem?!"

"I-I didn't do it!" Clementine barked on instinct as she presumed that someone was trying to place the blame squarely on her but for once she was wrong.

Turning around Clementine saw a female with familiar red hair and instantly knew it was Ginny Weasley, Fred and George's little sister and the youngest of all the Weasley siblings. Ginny wasn't alone either, beside her was the rather forgetful but always endearing Neville Longbottom. Clementine knew them both well enough as they were all in the same house at Hogwarts although they were about to enter their second and third year respectively compared to Clementine who was about to enter her rather dreaded fifth year.

"What's going on Clem? Why's the train stopped?" Neville stammered as he clutched onto his toad Trevor for what seemed to be dear life.

"I'm not really dure Neville, I'm just as surprised as you are even more as this has never happened before as far as I know…" Clementine honestly admitted as this was a first for her, she had seen her fair share of bizarre and unexplainable things given that she was friends with George and Fred but the Hogwarts Express coming to a complete stop was something new and frankly rather worrying. Not once could Clementine ever recall the Hogwarts Express every breaking down in the years that she had been attending Hogwarts. Clementine wasn't even sure that it was possible for the train to come to a stop. . The train was enchanted in some manner by various charms so Clementine wasn't sure what exact magical intervention could cause it to stop running.

Moments after the words came out of Clementine's mouth, all the lights on the Hogwarts Express went out and thrust them into complete darkness and it seemed like Clementine's day was just going from bad to worse.

Something was going and whatever it was, probably wasn't a good thing.

Then there was this odd sound that seemed to be coming from outside the train. Clementine wasn't really sure how to describe what she had heard but it sounded like something had just boarded the train. It had to be impossible yet Clementine was certain of what she head. Something or someone was now on the Hogwarts Express.

Clementine knew she had to move, herself along with Ginny and Neville were just standing out in the corridors of the carriage and they weren't alone any more. Something was out there with them and Clementine didn't think it was another student. They needed to move. Right now.

Grabbing Ginny's hand and Neville's free arm, Clementine began to drag the two younger students down the corridors of the Hogwarts Express, trying to navigate herself down the dark corridors of the train as best she could but it was rather hard given how dark it was and how her hands were a bit preoccupied with Ginny and Neville so she couldn't use her wand to guide them to a sage place. Finally Clementine came to a stop and making out the handles of a compartment door, she let go of Ginny and Neville before pulling the doors open and roughly pushing the two of them through the doors, once they were in Clementine followed suit and quickly shut the compartment doors. There was quite a bit of noise coming from inside the compartment and it became obvious to Clementine that she hadn't walked into an empty compartment.

"Will you all just be quiet!" Clementine hissed in annoyance as she couldn't figure out what was going on outside with all this nose going on.

"Clem is that you?"

Instantly Clementine recognized that voice straight away as Hermione Granger, another fellow Gryffindor who was in the same year as Neville. Clementine was certain that if Harry was in here then Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were also in this carriage as the three of them were practically inseparable. They were a trio who always seemed to find themselves in peculiar situations. Although Harry, as infamous as he was always seemed to have a knack for finding himself in some kind of trouble.

"No, it's Father Christmas!"

There seemed to be limbs everywhere and being barely able to see in front of her, let alone her own feet Clementine managed trip over something and get sent flying forward somehow managing to land flat on her front and as she did Clementine felt a sharp impact against her nose, which made a loud and quite unnatural sound that left a weird sensation in her nose. Unable to help herself Clementine cried out loud as she clutched her nose in the darkness.

"Shit!"

"Clem! Language."

"Don't mind me Hermione, I'm pretty certain that I've just broken my nose" Clementine retorted as she heard sniggering from beside her, no doubt coming from Ron and Harry over her use of muggle swear words. Clementine chose to ignore them as she felt her nose which was definitely out of shape and bleeding quite a bit. If she had known things were going to end up like this, she would have never left her compartment.

But for now, she needed to get up on to her feet without falling over and causing more damage to her body. Slowly attempting to stand up, Clementine reached up to grab something to help stead herself and to her surprise, whatever it was she had grabbed was rather soft and wriggly.

It was someone's hand.

"Clem is that you holding my hand?" Harry asked rather uneasily.

"Oh right, sorry about that! Just give me a hand up." Clementine replied as she allowed Harry to help her up.

"What the bloody hell is going–" Ron began but Clementine didn't have time to be answering questions that she didn't have the answer to because something was happening outside in the corridor of the train. She had momentarily forgotten that something was going on because of her nose but now it had all come back to her. The lights going out on the train, the sound of something coming aboard the train which is why Clementine had literally shoved Neville and Ginny into the carriage .

."–Shut up! All of you just be quiet and don't say anything…" Clementine hissed in a quiet tone because something was definitely going on outside. If this had been any other day Clementine would have considered herself mad for even suggesting such a thing but she was sure as hell that there was something outside in the carriages and it was moving. Merlin help them all but something was moving out there.

It wasn't good, Clementine could feel a crisp chill in the air and with every passing moment it was getting even colder and she was pretty sure that she could hear Neville's teeth chattering in the background. The coldness only led way to silence and Clementine was now more than certain that she could hear something moving outside. But it wasn't other students. It was something else and it was moving further up the train. Clementine was beyond scared, there was no other way to put it. There was a dark sensation crawling up her skin and her bones seemed to be frozen still.

This could not be happening.

This had to be a very bad dream.

Yet it wasn't.

But Clementine was too scared to freak out, she couldn't run and hide in some corner like she wanted to as there were others with her and she had to put them all first. _Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny._ They were all here in this compartment and out of all them Clementine was eldest and it was her responsibility to protect them. She had to keep them safe from whatever it was that was lurking outside in the corridor. Her feet felt like they were dead weights as Clementine shuffled closer to the door of the compartment, pulling her wand out of the back pocket of her jeans and holding it out in front of her.

She waited. They all just waited but nothing happened, it just got colder and colder… The carriage was completely silent, no one said anything, no one moved, no one dared to breathe but yet Clementine had never known her thoughts to be so loud before in her entire life.

Whatever was outside was coming increasingly closer and she had no idea what to do, she felt frozen solid. Clementine could barely think let along act so when a crackling sound came from behind her, she was at a loss. She was way too freaked out from what was going on from outside the compartment to be getting worked up about was going on inside this compartment. All Clementine knew was that things were just getting even more stranger and they hadn't even arrived at Hogwarts. Yet, Clementine's attention couldn't help but be drawn to whatever it was that was occurring behind her and she turned to look over her should to see this faint glow coming from within the compartment all of a sudden.

It was coming from someone.

A man.

Clementine hadn't been aware that anyone else was in this compartment, she hadn't even thought to ask, as she had assumed that it was only herself and the others but apparently she was wrong. Yet what was even more disturbing to Clementine was that she knew this man. If it wasn't for the fact that she was so scared, Clementine would have fainted at the sight of the person sitting calmly in the midst of all the chaos carrying the light that looked like flames. _Remus Lupin._ He was an old friend of Clementine's mother. But it had months at least since Clementine had seen him. Even though Clementine was certain that it was him, Lupin was a far cry from how she had seen him the last time.

He was dressed in robes that had seen better days and he had brown hair that had flecks of grey in it along with this huge scar that ran along his face. He wasn't old but he looked older than he probably was.

Just what the bloody hell was he doing here of all places?

"Stay where you are."

There was this calming authority to Lupin's voice as he rose from his seat and Clementine felt mildly better that there was an adult who seemed to be willing to face whatever it was that was going on outside as she was in no way qualified to take on whatever was outside. Clementine opened her mouth to attempt to ask Lupin what was going but he simply shook his head at her and turned his attention to the door.

All Clementine could do was nod her head in a dumb manner before her attention soon drifted back to what was going on outside. The door was slowly opening.

Someone was opening the door from outside and Clementine felt her breath get caught in her throat as she caught sight of whatever it was that had been lurking outside. It was a creature, a hooded cloaked figure that was hovering in the doorway and Clementine instinctively felt dread. She felt a mixture of things, sadness, fear but most importantly dread and death for some reason. An intense cold breeze swept over her and Clementine felt the chills going down her spine and right down to her toes. Clementine stumbled back a few more steps, she stumbled back into someone but she didn't look to see who it was as her eyes were preoccupied with what was it in front of her or rather what it was. It had taken a few moments but Clementine realized that she knew what the dark figure towering over them was.

It was a Dementor. Clementine should have realized it sooner… They were the fowl creatures who were tasked with protecting Azkaban. Never before had Clementine seen one in person but she had grown up hearing all about them and they were so much worse than anything that she could have dreamed of. No matter how scared she was, Clementine couldn't tear her eyes away from the dementor, Clementine's blood ran cold, she didn't know what was going to happen but she felt more scared than she had ever felt in her entire life. Clementine honestly felt like she was about to be scared to death. The fear, unhappiness and the cold all surrounded her until she heard something fall to the ground and Clementine looked round briefly to see Harry on the ground looking like he was having some kind of fit.

"I-I…" Clementine stammered in shock, unable to form an actual sentence together as her brain was currently empty. There was nothing going on inside her brain, she was too freaked out to form words in her head let alone get them out of her mouth. Clementine didn't know what she should do, she didn't know how to protect everyone else. All she could do was just stand there whilst she was being all but scared to death.

"None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go…"

Clementine hadn't even noticed that Lupin had managed to get in front of her, his arms spread out to protect them all. Her mind just kept stopping and starting. Whatever was happening, her mind couldn't even begin to comprehend but she could recall seeing a bright light and within moments the Dementor was gone. Seemingly banished from the compartment and off to somewhere else. Clementine didn't know where it was going nor did she care, she was just glad that it was gone. It didn't take long for the lights came back on and Clementine felt mildly better now that she could see better although she used the word mildly rather reluctantly. Despite the fact she couldn't form a word or even a sentence to thank Lupin who had pretty much saved them, Clementine did managed to let out a somewhat strangled sigh of relief despite the fact that her mouth was pretty much covered with her own blood.

The last few minutes had been the worst of her life and it seemed to have gone on for hours rather than some agonisingly slow minutes and apparently the others felt the same. Ginny was cowering in fear in the corner, no doubt terrified out of her mind, Clementine would have gone to comfort her if it wasn't for the fact that she wasn't sure where to even begin. Then Neville was doing something that Clementine wasn't too sure of what it was but he seemed to be doing okay for the most part which was good. Hermione and Ron were busy on reviving Harry, who seemed to come round after being poked and prodded for about thirty seconds.

Upon seeing Harry's eyes open Clementine let out another sigh of relief before using the sleeve of her jumper to wipe her mouth and nose, wincing ever so slightly as the material of her jumper came into contact with her nose. It was definitely broken but everyone was okay… For the most part. Although Clementine knew that there was no way she was getting any sleep tonight after what they had all gone through.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked and Clementine wearily glanced over to a pale looking Harry who seemed rather green and moments away from being sick, which Clementine could sympathise with. She felt like she could be sick any minute now after what had just happened.

"Yeah…" Harry wearily replied and Clementine caught him quickly glancing towards the door no doubt looking for the Dementor which was now gone. "What happened? Where's that - that thing? Who screamed?"

"No one screamed." Ron replied at the moment and Clementine couldn't help but awkwardly look away as now that her brain was finally catching up to her emotion, she realized what this all meant. This was all about Sirius. There was no other reason for Dementors to be here and since this was about Sirius, Clementine knew it was only a matter of time before it led back to her given her familial relations to Sirius. Clementine hadn't even arrived at Hogwarts yet but already Sirius was causing her even more problems. It was one thing having ministry officials coming to her home at all hours of the day but this was something else and Clementine felt like she had aged 10 years in the last few weeks because of this Sirius ordeal.

"But I heard screaming -" Harry insisted and Clementine didn't know what to say to this so instead she just looked over to the Lupin. She still didn't understand why he was here of all places. It was so random.

"Here, eat it. It'll help."

"What was that thing?" Harry asked and no one said anything because nobody in the room seemed to know what it was except for Clementine and Lupin and he seemed rather reluctant to speak up. So before she knew what she was doing, Clementine decided to be the one to speak up and answer Harry's question.

"That thing? It's called a Dementor. It's pretty much the physical manifestation of pure darkness and more than capable of sucking out your soul if it gets too close to you. It's why they are tasked with guarding Azkaban." Clementine replied in a grim tone of voice as she explained to the others the creature that they just had the misfortune to meet. But as soon as the words came out of Clementine's mouth she regretted it, even more so when several sets of eyes were looking straight at her. Clementine could see them connecting the dots from Dementors and Azkaban to Sirius Black and herself. It was clear as day in their eyes, the Dementor was looking for Sirius but they came across Clementine instead.

Although she wasn't a mind reader Clementine thought she could read people well and she was certain that she knew what everyone was thinking. _The_ _D_ _ementors had come looking for a Black and they had found one, just not the right Black._ Clementine looked round the compartment one last time, taking in all the stares that were coming her way and she felt trapped. She felt naked exposed and she needed to get out, she needed to flee so she did. Clementine moved towards the compartment door, pulled them open and ran. She couldn't be there any more, Clementine had to get away and so she ran down the corridors of the train, ignoring all the stares that were coming her way. Clementine just had get away from it and go somewhere she could be alone and pull herself together.

This year was not getting off to a good start.


	2. Chapter 2

_Shit. Bloody Merlin_ _'s pants._ Clementine had really messed up. Over the course of her time at Hogwarts, she had gotten into her fair share of trouble over the years, it was only natural given that she was friends with the Weasley twins. Most of the time it was due to Clementine's frequent uniform violations or mouthing off in class, it usually resulted in numerous detentions and her Hogsmeade visitation rights being pulled for a few weeks. Clearly Clementine had really out done herself and then some as not only had she bested her previous record of being back at school for two weeks for getting into trouble. But never before had it been serious enough to warrant a trip to the Headmaster's office. Until now. _If you pardoned the pun._

If she was being honest, Clementine wasn't entirely surprised that things had ended up like this. Of course she was going to get the blame for what happened. The Dementors had come looking for a Black and they had found one. Just not the right one. It had to be a coincidence, right? Except Clementine didn't believe in coincidences and she doubted any one else would believe that what happened on the train was some massive coincidence. By the time the Hogwarts Express had pulled into Hogsmeade, news of what happened on the train had seemed to spread like wildfire and Clementine was certain that the entire school knew had occurred in the carriage compartment.

All the looks Clementine had been receiving earlier in the day seemed like a walk in park, now it was so much worse. The broken nose and the blood stained jumper probably wasn't helping either. Her nose was no longer throbbing like mad, it was a dull ache that Clementine had learned to ignore for the most part. But all the whispers and staring were a lit much and so Clementine had taken the decision to skip the feast. It was better for everyone if she didn't go.

Instead, Clementine had managed to slip away undetected and she had been skulking her way through the castle. She had been trying so hard to figure out what had happened on the train but she was just drawing complete and utter blanks. Her mind seemed unable to wrap her head around the events that had just happened. She had seen a Dementor first hand and had lived to tell the tale, although if Clementine was being honest, she would use the term 'survived' very loosely as her hands had yet to stop shaking. Just thinking back to what happened on the Hogwarts Express sent a terrible shiver down Clementine back as she could still see that fowl creature in her mind. Even though she could remember every single detail of what happened, Clementine was yet to be able to put the whole experience into words other than the fact it had been the scariest thing ever.

Clementine had been trying to pull herself together in order to inevitably explain the events of tonight which she had been caught by Argus Filch; the school's caretaker and perhaps the closest thing to an arch enemy that the Weasley twins had. Filch had pretty much grabbed Clementine by the collar of her jumper and dragged her down the castle halls. Normally when Clementine encountered Filch in these situations, she would go along in a fit of protest. _But not this time._ Clementine was too tired to put up a fight. She expected to be dragged to Filch's office and be threatened with disembowelment and detention. This was not the case, instead Filch had brought her to Professor Dumbledore's office and with a quick shove, left her alone to await her fate.

So that's how Clementine had gotten into this situation, and she had been here all alone in the headmaster's office awaiting her fate. She didn't mind it too much as whilst everyone else was in the Great Hall gorging on the welcome back feast, it gave Clementine time to get her story straight. The only possible explanation that she could offer at the moment was that the Dementors were looking for Black, and they had found one. Just not the right one. It all had to be a coincidence, right?

No one was stupid enough to believe that Clementine grimly thought to herself as she quietly shuffled around Dumbledore's office. Prior to this, Clementine had not had the privilege of seeing the room first hand for herself and if this was to be her first and only time in here, she wanted to get a look. It certainly was impressive, the office was large circular room that was rather eclectic by most standards but fitting for the one and only Albus Dumbledore. There were countless windows in the office and even more portraits on the walls, yet it was clear that there was more than enough space for even more additions. There were several tables with countless silver objects on them, some of them made little noises whilst others puffed out smoke. Then there were the books, Clementine didn't think she had ever seen so many books in a private library before!

Yet, Clementine's interest was quickly drawn away as her eyes caught sight of a rather magnificence creature in the office whose beady eyes were intently trained on her. _Fawkes._ Every one knew of the phoenix bird that was the companion to Dumbledore. He was magnificent, coloured beautifully in shades of crimson and gold. Clementine slowly made her way over to Fawkes, she became aware that someone else was watching her.

She could feel dark eyes pretty much burning a hole into the side of her head, and Clementine quickly glanced over to her right and the culprit was pretty much who she suspected it was. After all, there was only one person in this room who would take any if little interest in her. Clementine hoped like hell he wouldn't recognize her as it had been a few years since the two of them had laid eyes on each other…

"Yes, it is you… I thought it was! The bastard of House Black."

Dear Merlin, it just had to be Phineas Clementine couldn't help but groan, it had been a very long night and now she had to deal with one of her insane relatives. It was bad enough that Sirius mere existence was turning Clementine's entire world upside down but now she had to deal with her deceased relative and his enchanted portrait. Phineas Nigellus Black was Clementine great-great-great grandfather and former Headmaster of Hogwarts which made him barely tolerable, although he was considered to be the worst head in the school's history. Whilst Phineas himself wasn't the worst of Clementine's relatives, he wasn't the best either as held the typical Black family views of blood purity.

"Nice to see you too Phineas." Clementine replied through gritted teeth, ignoring her ancestor's insult pass by without batting an eyelid. The names were something that Clementine was very much used to, it came with the territory of being the family abomination.

"I heard murmurings that Walburga's greatest shame was a student here in the castle and right that was, and using the name of the family in vain. I thank Merlin my father isn't alive to see what our name has been reduced to." Phineas began and Clementine had to resist the urge to toll her eyes as she prepared to here all about the disgrace she brought to the family name.

"I'm sorry that we can't all be murderers and death eaters." Clementine quipped with a forced smile on her face.

"Says the bastard with the mudblood father."

 _That word._ Phineas' casual use of the insult aimed at her father made Clementine's blood boil as it was beyond offensive and it was meant to cause upset. Clementine knew that Phineas was intentionally doing this to upset her but hearing that word was nothing new to her, this was not the first time she had heard it, nor would it be the last. As it was true. Clementine was under no illusion of her's father's background, Topher Jennings was a muggle born, a wizard born to parents with no magical abilities themselves. To her mother's side of the family, the blood purist there was nothing more disgusting in this world than a muggle born. So naturally when a teenaged Cassiopeia Black announced that she was carrying a child out wedlock with a muggle born father, so began a lifetime of Clementine hearing that slur associated with herself and her father.

"You refer to my father by that disgusting name again and I rip your portrait to piece with my bare heads your old coot!" Clementine barked in irritation as she had gone through a rather arduous night without her deranged relative sprouting his blood purity nonsense.

"I often wondered why Cassiopeia gave you the Black name when it became clear that she had turned her back on the family. Walburga disowned your mother for her traitorous acts and yet Cassiopeia had the nerve to give her abomination the name of my father and his father but I see it now! A bastard you may be but you cannot deny the blood that runs through your veins child. You are a Black if I have ever seen one." Phineas stated with a sneer his face before his expression softened and Clementine could swear that he was smiling at her in some kind of warped acknowledgement

"What are you talking about old man?"

"You look down and sneer us child but you are more of a Black then you are willing to admit. I have to say that you remind me of Sirius in that respect. The same all knowing self righteous attitude for a Gryffindor, the constant whining about how you are better than the rest of your family and that temper of yours. I look at you Clementine Black and I can see Sirius, you look like him you know. Back when he was your age." Phineas wistfully noted which made Clementine rather uncomfortable, she didn't like where Phineas was going with this.

"I look like a lot of people apparently, it's the dark hair and grey eyes that are common traits within the Black line. I believe we have the family petulance for inbreeding to thank for that." Clementine spat in response, feeling the need to throw in a dig about the family line in response which only garnered a smirk from Phineas.

"Perhaps but I was referring to that familiar twinkle in your eye, don't you agree Albus?"

Albus? No… It couldn't be?

 _Stupid Clem._ Of course it had to be the man himself be given that it was indeed his office that Clementine was in. She couldn't believe she was being so stupid. No doubt it was time to face the music and accept whatever punishment was going to come her way. Clementine could only hope that it wasn't an immediate expulsion as her parents would probably die in that event. Knowing that this was the moment of truth, Clementine took a deep breath and slowly turned around and came face to face with the man who had the power to determine her fate.

Professor Dumbledore.

Even though she had seen the man perhaps a million times in person, even to this day Clementine was taken a back by the sight of the professor, although she was not afraid. There was always a kindness that came with Dumbledore and this occasion wasn't any different. Prior to this, it had been months since Clementine had last seen her headmaster but it seemed like nothing had changed, Professor Dumbledore still towered over although the large difference in height was getting smaller, his eclectic dress sense was the same as ever. Today's choice of clothing was a purple robes that seemed to make his long silver hair, and equally as long beard stand out even more.

Professor Dumbledore's blue eyes seemed to radiate warmness from behind his crescent moon spectacles, which made Clementine feel a little more at ease but what really did it for her was the small smile on her face.

Could it be possible that he was happy to see her?

"Miss Black, may I?" Dumbledore began and at first Clementine was unsure as to what the professor was referring to. Was he asking for permission to scold her? But upon Dumbledore gesturing towards her nose, she suddenly understood. He wanted to fix her nose.

Clementine dumbly nodded, she had kind of forgotten about her nose. There were so many things going on in her head that the dull ache of her nose had been drowned out by the ten million things running through her mind. But as Professor Dumbledore waved over her nose with his hand, the dull ache came back in full force before Clementine felt her nose become very hot, it seemed to be giving off a burning hot heat before going ice cold. Then there was nothing. Clementine had gone through her fair share of broke bones to know that her nose had been fixed and yet she couldn't help but gingerly lift her hand to her nose as if to check.

It was pretty much good as new.

But now came the difficult part, as Clementine couldn't avoid what was coming next. She had to try and give some reasonable explanation as to what happened or else she would be on a one way journey back home, never to return to Hogwarts again.

"I-I didn't mean to do it, I d-didn't mean to bring it here. I don't know what happened, all of sudden everything was fine and then the train stopped and then the dementor came! I didn't do it Professor Dumbledore, I swear! I don't know where Sirius is, I'm not helping him at all but no one believes me! Everything thinks that I'm involved when I'm not…" Clementine blurted out, unable to help herself as the words fell out of her mouth in an apologetic manner. She was panicking, there was no doubt about that. Clementine's usual cool and unflappable nature had clearly flown out the window around the time that Dementor had entered the train compartment.

"Dear child, of course this wasn't your fault Clementine! It's not your fault in the slightest, it's merely a coincidence that the dementor came into the compartment where the niece of the one they are looking for just so happened to be in. It wasn't coming for you and none of this happened because of who you are Clementine. Rest assured the Dementors will not be coming after you because you are related to Sirius Black." Dumbledore assured and the sincerity in his voice was clear that Clementine felt as if she was going to cry. She wasn't expecting to be treated with such kindness.

"Then why was it there?" Clementine asked, her voice crackling towards the end.

"The Ministry believe that Sirius may come here Clementine but no harm will come to you here. The Dementors are being posted on the outskirts of the castle at the ministry's insistence although why one chose to come aboard the Hogwarts Express is an interesting question or others to answer." Dumbledore began and it was clear to Clementine that he wasn't happy about this, yet despite his reassurances, Clementine couldn't quite believe that this whole thing had been one massive coincidence.

"So, you believe me?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?." said Dumbledore and all Clementine could do for the moment was nod dumbly, with that reassurement it meant that her eminent expulsion was probably no longer on the table.

"Because of my name, the family that I come from."

"As I recall your mother Cassiopeia was one of the best and brightest students that Hogwarts had ever seen, very skilled in potions and herbology if I remember correctly. Then your father Christopher was Head Boy with a remarkable aptitude for wizard's chess. From my own personal understanding Clementine, you come from a family with remarkable moral character and a delicious recipe for peacan pie!" Dumbledore replied and Clementine couldn't help but sigh as that wasn't what she had meant. "But if you are referring to the family your mother was born into, the family whose name that you hold, I will say this… Where we come from, or the name that we hold does not determine the path that we will take. Just because you have the Black name, it does not mean that you will become that of which you associate your family name. That choice is yours, and yours alone Clementine Black."

Clementine wanted to roll her eyes, that sounded like something her father would say. But she knew better than to display such openly disrespectful behaviour in front of Dumbledore.

"On the subject of things that belong to you, I have something of utmost importance to return to you Clementine and something to bestow on you." Professor Dumbledore began as he reached into his robes and pulled out a long, thin object. But upon further inspection Clementine could see that it was no random object that Professor Dumbledore was holding. _It was a wand._ A wand dark brown in colour, except for the hazel intertwined vines that were bound around the handle.

Her wand! Clementine had lost track of it's whereabouts in all the confusion aboard the Hogwarts Express and yet here it was, outstretched in Professor Dumbledore's hand. Clementine opened her mouth to begin to ask how the professor came to be in possession of her wand but she thought better than to bother the great Albus Dumbledore such a silly question.

"Thank you Professor, I know this may sound weird but I feel rather uneasy when I'm without it." Clementine admitted as reached out and took back her offered wand. Upon her fingers making contact with the dark wood, Clementine's fingers curled around her wand tightly and she could feel herself relax slightly.

"Not at all Clementine, for your wand is an extension of yourself as part of your identity as a witch. It is synced with your heart and mind."

"Umm… How the others okay?" Clementine questioned, she had fled from the carriage so quickly after the Dementor had left, she didn't know how the others were doing. Especially poor Harry! Out of all of them, he seemed to have been effected the worst by the Dementor. As much as she would be unwilling to admit it outside this room, the encounter with the dementor had left her shaken and she worried about her younger classmates.

"Perfectly fine. Professor Lupin informed of what happened in the carriage and of of your actions, it was a very brave thing you did."

Professor Lupin? Clementine didn't see that one coming and she would have to get back to that one later. She had put the whole Remus Lupin being on the train in the first place on the back burner, but it was clear to her now that he was here in some kind of teaching capacity. How did she not know that until now? There was so many unanswered questions.

"I don't know about that." Clementine scoffed in disagreement as she hadn't done anything, if any one deserved the credit for what had happened then it was Lupin. If it wasn't for him, who know what might of happened…

"Tell me Clementine, what do you know about Dementors?"

Clementine swallowed a lump in her throat as she took a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke. "Dementors are dark creatures, unique in a way as they were never born and cannot really be killed as they were never alive to begin with. They are considered by most to one of the foulest things to walk this earth as they feed of happiness and leave feeling of darkness and despair in their wake. Dementors suck the positive feelings out of those who they come into close encounter with, forcing their victims to relieve their most memories. But their abilities go beyond that, as they are full capable of sucking a person's soul out if given the chance to . My father once told me that the Dementors kiss is reserved only for the worst criminals at Azkaban and for those who receive it, they suffer a fate worse than death."

"Yet, knowing this you still placed your self in harms ways to protect your fellow students. I for one, would call that very brave… Which brings us along perfectly to the item I wish to bestow to you Clementine. Normally students are informed of this decision in August but given the news of Sirius' escape and the upheaval it caused, Professor McGonagall and I decided delay informing you.." Dumbledore explained with a widened smile and at first Clementine was at a loss for what was going on, she didn't understand what Dumbledore was going on about.

Then she saw it. The red and gold badge with the lion that symbolised her house and the letter P.

Clementine felt her heart drop to her feet. This could not be happening to her of all people.

 _No! Merlin's no! NO! NO! NO!_

"Professor Dumbledore, you can't be serious… I mean, it can't be possible Sir! Me a Prefect? I-I can't be." Clementine stammered, unable to form a fully put together sentence as she couldn't believe what was happening. _Her a Prefect?_ This had to be some kind of sick joke as she was not prefect material in the slightest. Far from it! If there was a list of people who should not a prefect then Clementine was certain that her name would be top of that list! She had never had any aspirations in the slightest to become a Prefect or Head Girl. Yet it seemed to be happening. This had to be some kind of bad dream, it would be the only way to explain the day that Clementine was happening. First the broken nose, then the Dementor and now this!

"I cannot think of any one more deserving."

"B-But what about all the detentions, all the talking back and the uniform violations! Surely based on those alone I shouldn't be chosen! Then the whole Sirius situation Sir! Think about the optics… Making the niece of the mass murderer a Prefect wouldn't be a good idea. I imagine Fudge wouldn't be too pleased."

"Then it's a good thing that the Minister isn't in charge of choosing Prefects." Dumbledore quipped and Clementine couldn't help but let out a small snicker.

"But me Sir, me of all people…" Clementine stammered as she was still failing to understand how on earth she was picked for this. It made no sense! She spent a fair good part of last year coming in and out of detentions along with McGonagall's office! Clementine didn't believe that she didn't have what it took to be a prefect. How could she be charged to oversee student behaviour when she wasn't exactly a model student herself?

"This is your fifth year at Hogwarts now Miss Black and in the time that you have been here, I have known you to be a fiercely spirited young woman with good and kind heart , who is tolerant and accepting to those around her. You've already displayed a willingness to oversee and protect your fellow students. A little mischievous you may be, but you have always been one to excel at everything you have put your mind to and we believe that this will be no different." Dumbledore explained in a cheerful manner, his warm small reaching to his eyes and them seemed to be shining.

"We?" Clementine questioned as she attempted to swallow the large lump that was currently sitting her throat.

"Professor McGonagall and myself, I do believe that you were her top choice for the role. She feels that you are perfectly suited for the role and the responsibility may do you some good. Contrary to popular believe Miss Black, there is no such thing as a perfect Prefect."

Try telling that to Percy Weasley, Clementine dryly thought to herself.

Clementine had no idea that so many people believed in her. Given all this Sirius business, she had been expecting to come back to school and treated by a pariah because of the name she carried and the people she was related to. But so far that hadn't happened. After what had happened on the train earlier tonight, Clementine had been expecting to be kicked out of school because of the Dementor incident. However, that had not been the case.

The kindness of Dumbledore's word had gotten to Clementine and her eyes were stinging with hot tears that were threatening to fall. Normally Clementine wasn't one for getting all emotional, that was more along her father's line but at this moment in time she didn't care. As she looked at the red and gold badge that Dumbledore held out towards her, Clementine knew that she was being handed a life line here. A chance to prove that there was more to her than just the Black name. She would be good. Clementine would remember her mother's words. But most of all she would make sure that she would not let the darkness of the Black family into her heart like it had done so many others.


End file.
